British History Online

Suckling's History and Antiquities of Suffolk

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Volume 1 of Suckling's 'History and Antiquities' is now live. This is the first of the two volumes of the Reverend Suckling's projected History of the county that were completed in the 1840s. They describe three and a half hundreds in the north-east of the county. Volume 2 will be added in the next few weeks.

Calendar of State Papers, Colonial now complete

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

We have now added the final volume of the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial. This volume, number 45 in the series, deals with the year 1739.

New Timeline Function on BHO

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

We are pleased to announce a new monarchs timeline function for British History Online. This is a compact way of displaying all relevant series for a particular monarch; it will enable our users to see at a glance the periods covered by the given volumes in a series and, additionally, to drag the timeline forward and backwards in time. At the lowest level is a compressed timeline, divided into decades, with a representation of the density of coverage on BHO. In the main body of the timeline the reign is indicated by a red line, while the BHO volumes are shown as green lines. Click on any green line to get a summary of that volume's contents and a link directly to the volume. At the top some of the key events of the reign are shown as green boxes. Click on any box for more information about the event in question. To scroll simply drag the timeline. For example, to move forwards in time click on the timeline and drag to the left. Or use your mouse's scroll wheel to move back and forth. We plan to add more timelines in the future, but to see all of our current timelines go to our Periods page and choose a monarch.

Cecil Papers

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Calendar of the Cecil Papers Preserved in Hatfield House is now live. These 24 volumes cover the papers of the leading political family of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, was chief advisor to Elizabeth I, and his son Robert was Secretary of State to both Elizabeth and James I. Unusually, these state papers have remained in the family archives at Hatfield House. Among other highlights, this calendar covers the Casket Letters attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots and material relating to the Gunpowder Plot.

Six Volumes of Papal Documents

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Six volumes of Papal documents are now live. These consist of Petitions to the Pope, the Calendar of Vatican Papers for the first part of the reign of Elizabeth I, and three volumes of the Papal Registers. The Registers are entries in the Vatican archives which relate to Great Britain and Ireland; more volumes in this series will be published online in the coming months.

New sources for the history of Norwich

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Volumes 3 and 4 of Blomefield's 'History of Norfolk' are now live. These two volumes give chronological and thematic accounts of the local history of the city.

Calendar of Papers Preserved in France

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The Calendar of Documents Preserved in France is now live. This volume consists of Record Commission transcripts of documents found mostly in Normandy, and dated up to 1206 (the end of English control of the region).

Calendar of State Papers, Spain

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The complete series of the Calendar of State Papers, Spain, is now live. These 19 volumes cover Spanish papers concerning relations with England for all the Tudor monarchs up to Elizabeth. The Elizabethan papers can be found in the complementary Simancas series which is already live on the site.

Calendar of Close Rolls complete

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The 62 volumes of this key series are now live. Covering three centuries from Henry III to Henry VII, they are a fundamental source for the history of medieval government. They are available as part of our premium content service.

Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The complete series of the Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations is now online. Covering the period 1704-1782, the journals provide many details of colonial administration.

Survey of London now complete

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Volumes 1 to 45 of the Survey are now all live. With the publication of volumes 6, 8, 9 and 12, we reach the culmination of our three-year partnership with English Heritage to digitise this essential source for London history.

The Survey of London on the Royal Opera House

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Volume 35 of the Survey of London is now live. It gives an account of the history and architecture of the Royal Opera House, and its predecessor, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The complete series of the Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers is now live. As a result of a change in the original calendaring policy, the material hitherto calendared separately for the Treasury Papers and Treasury Books series, is united from 1729 onwards. As the editors say, the joint calendaring of the Treasury Books and Papers gives a more complete picture of the work of the Treasury from 1729 until the end of the series in 1745.

Calendar of Close Rolls

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The calendar for the reign of Edward II is now live. Offered as part of our premium content service, this is the latest stage in our publication of the complete Calendar for the period 1227 to 1509. Our premium content service also includes the complete Calendar of State Papers, Domestic series.

Calendar of State Papers, Venice, now online

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The complete series of the Calendar of State Papers, Venice, is now live. These 38 volumes cover the period 1202-1675, and calendar papers in the Venetian archives which relate to English affairs. Covering a period in which Venetian diplomacy was central to European politics, these calendars offer a rich external view of English history.

Letters and Papers of Henry VIII now complete

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The Calendar of Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of Henry VIII is now complete. Covering the whole reign of Henry VIII, the calendars give direct access to key events, such as the divorce from Katherine of Aragon, the Henrician Reformation, and the fall of Thomas Cromwell. These essential calendars of state papers are freely available together for the first time, in transcriptions which have been carefully edited to ensure high-quality results.

Calendar of Close Rolls

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The 15 volumes for Henry III are now live. Included as part of our premium content service, the Calendar of Close Rolls is a fundamental source for the study of medieval England. The complete series, from Henry III to Henry VII, will be made live over the next few months.

Announcing the Calendar of Cecil Papers

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the digitisation of the 24 volumes of the calendars of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House. These documents of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, represent state papers which have remained in the Hatfield archives. As the papers of the central governmental figure of Elizabeth's reign, they will provide an essential complement to our calendars of state papers online. The Calendar of Cecil Papers is scheduled to go online in spring 2009 and will be free to all users.

Calendars of State Papers

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

British History Online is pleased to announce that 200 volumes in the AHRC-funded State Papers project are now live. The goal of the project is to complete the digitisation of the Calendars of State Papers, in order to make these important documents freely accessible to the academic community and the general public alike; we are able to ensure a reliably searchable result by creating verbatim transcriptions of at least 99.9% accuracy. In order to foster scholarly collaboration we have also included a feature which allows any interested user to update, correct, or enhance the calendars for the benefit of all. We plan to make the remaining 150 books in this project live within the next twelve months. The total number of volumes on British History Online is now just over 800, of which 85 percent are completely free; the remainder is included in a subscription service which supports and sustains the free publications.

New Timelines on British History Online

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

British History Online has introduced an expanded set of timelines. Covering eight periods from 1509 to 1714, these bring together under thematic headings part of the range and variety of sources available on British History Online. The sets of suggestions for each topic would be particularly suitable as an introduction for undergraduates to the use of primary sources, and the analysis of how such sources may complement, modify or contradict one another. Further expansion of the timelines is planned for the coming months.